Buddy Baker: Your world must be terrible. It seems so gray and bleak. How can you possibly live in a world without superheroes? Grant Morrison: We get by.- Animal Man

Matt writes:

At lunchtime on Wednesday I was dropping my daughter's grandma (and her dog) off at Brockley station after a few days babysitting. Just as they were about to go through the barriers to platform 2 a large staffie, not on a lead, came racing under the barrier and attacked our dog, who is an elderly spaniel. It locked on and wouldn't let go for ages. It took four of us to get it to release eventually. It's owners weren't much help, offered a feeble apology and then disappeared.

It was a horrible incident which shook us all up, but massive thanks to the good Samaritans of Brockley who came out of shops and flats to help us, bringing water for our dog, calling the vet and making sure we were OK (apologies for my colourful language as I was trying to get the offending dog off).

One emergency trip to the vets later and Ellie the dog has been patched up, is on antibiotics and should be OK. It could have been much worse, (and fortunately my daughter was safely asleep in her buggy), but I urge responsible dog owners to be vigilant in the area, especially if you see another dog is off its lead.

This happened to my dog in Ladywell fields but it was taller than a staffie, tan coloured and looked more like a pit bull. People were hitting and kicking it and the only thing that got it to release its jaws from my dogs head was a can of lager shaken over it by a park bench drinker. Blood everywhere and unfortunately witnessed by my 3 and five year old kids. Police, RSPCA, dog wardens are all powerless unless it attacks a human. Dog bites a dog they can't do a thing.

That's grim - and very shocking for you all. I hope you all make a good recovery. I saw a sustained and ultimately fatal dog on dog attack (in NW5) a year or so ago, bull terrier attacking an older, shaggy grey type. The violence of it was profoundly shocking. I have never seen so much blood. I will never forget it, and the thought that it could have been a child. I arrived at work and burst into tears.

I'm aware of a similar incident in the area where a staffie attacked a retired greyhound, which eventually passed away due to infected wounds. It's time to have a debate on compulsory muzzling and micro chipping of all dogs. It's only a matter of time before there a fatalities locally....

Compulsory muzzling of all dogs? because a Staffie attacks another animal, all Daschunds must wear a muzzle....!?How about reintroducing the dog licence, proceeds ringfenced to form an inspectorate with broad ranging powers to track down unlcenced animals as well as tackling the sort of incident we're discussing here?

my father was attacked 30 years ago by a pitt bull. He nerly lost his hand the only way to safely get the dog off is to grab both front legs and pull them apart the dog can't breath and will panic it will immediatley release it's jaw. Hope this helps its very worrying with so many small kids about.

Thanks that seems like sound advice, and with fighting dogs abounding it's a scenario that many owners of pet dogs must have considered. Unfortunately laws preventing aggressive breeds being owned by morons might be difficult to frame, but see my comments below for a possible solution to the current free for all.

I still hate them, if by them, we mean the majority. This morning I picked up the dog poo of three other dogs in the 500 yards to Hilly Fields. Not picking up dog poo is normal. It is not a small, or even significant, minority - it is the majority of dog owners.

For some it is accidental: they pick it up when they see their dog doing it, but sometimes they are talking to other dog owners or on the phone and they get all the way round their walk without picking up and poo and they know, in their hearts, that their dog has done one somewhere but they missed it.

There are others who will pick it up if it on or near a path but think that their dog heading into the trees for a poo is OK and does not require picking up. They even train their dog to go to the toilet in these places - you know the sort of place? The ones that are great fun to investigate and have and adventure when you are kids - until you come out covered in dog's mess.

Then there are the dog owners who think they have been socially responsible by bringing their dog to the park to poo (instead of on the street). Honestly, you can get into a fight just saying to a dog owner to clean up after their dog. I have had them yell at me "This is a park," clearly believing that the whole point of a park is to be a dog toilet.

And these dog owners I have described are the better ones. The type of dog owner that owns the dog that attacked your dog are not even in this league.

What we need is DNA testing to identify the dog owners who do not pick up their dogs' poos. http://www.pooprints.com/. My suggestion for the sppropriate punishment is not fit to print on such an esteemed website.

That is sooo terrible and very unfair to say that!!! I know stafffies (and they are not my favourite dog in the world to be fair) and rotties that are absolutely well behaved and brought up and would not hurt and some little ratty things that keep yapping at you and trying to nip at you or your dog!! it's about the owners!!! I have a cockerpoo...so none of the above!

RSPCA chief vet Mark Evans said: "Staffies have had a terrible press, but this is not of their own making - in fact they're wonderful dogs. If people think that Staffies have problems, they're looking at the wrong end of the dog lead! When well cared for and properly trained they can make brilliant companions. Our experience suggests that problems occur when bad owners exploit the Staffie's desire to please by training them to show aggression."

As a staffie owner I agree they are wonderful dogs its some owners who don't know how to treat them. My lovely natured Staff was mauled by a Jack russell last year and ended up having stitches and being put on antibiotics for weeks .The owner just calmly walked away and didn't even say sorry. This has completely traumatised my dog and is now quite nervous of other dogs. All dog owners should keep their dogs on the lead and should be fined if they don't. Just because some dogs are small it does not mean that they cannot be vicious and cause damage. It is ignorance to brand all staffs as dangerous as they are not!! No matter what breed of dog one has the same level of responsibility should be given to each.

Sorry to hear about this. We had a similar episode happen on Vesta Road at Christmas, it was a grey Staff. We did eventually report it to the police as it concerned me it could happen to a child/person the next time. I know the police are not hugely helpful in these situations, it is worth reporting it regardless so if it is a repeat offence by the dog and the owners have been warned/spoken to the police can then actually do something.